Africa Great Lakes Democracy Watch

Welcome toAfrica Great Lakes Democracy Watch Blog.Our objective is to promote the institutions of democracy,social justice,Human Rights,Peace, Freedom ofExpression, and Respect to humanity in Rwanda,Uganda,DR Congo, Burundi,Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya,Ethiopia, and Somalia. We strongly believe that Africa will develop if only our presidents stop being rulers of men and become leaders of citizens. We support Breaking the Silence Campaign for DR Congo since we believe the democracy in Rwanda means peace inDRC. Follow this link to learn more about the origin of the war in both Rwanda and DR Congo:http://www.rwandadocumentsproject.net/gsdl/cgi-bin/library

Sunday, August 12, 2012

RWANDA-AFRICA:Rwanda steps up fear for communication into its citizens

The
recent Rwandan laws limiting the use of internet in the country and
having to pay for receiving telephone calls have scaled up the level of
oppression that Paul Kagame regime is inflicting to his citizens since
the day his forces invaded Rwanda from Uganda back in October 1990.As in Egypt of Mubarak, says Horace Campbell in the book titled African Awakening: the emerging revolutions “the
closing down of the internet and shutting down of cell-phone services
and non-government media were only the more modern manifestations of a
long tradition of repression that had placed conservative militarists at
the top of the political ladder…”Thus the measures that were voted and made public by the
Rwandan minister of Interior this week are another worrying step that
the Rwandan Patriotic Front government has taken to alienate itself
against the population, particularly the users of new technologies in
the country. I reproduce hereafter the reaction of Jambonewsunder the name of Jean Mitari. The original text was in French. I took the freedom of translating it for English readers.
On Tuesday, August 6, 2012, Mussa Fazil Harelimana, Rwandan Interior
Minister, announced that Kigali had adopted a new law to monitor phone
calls, e-mails and website visits made from Rwanda.
Divisionism or genocide ideology, were far the most significant
arguments put forward by the RPF regime to discredit any form of
criticism or opposition and restrict civil liberties. Presently, in a
context of intense international pressure following the UN report
accusing Rwanda of supporting the rebellion of the M23, the regime steps
up one extra level in censuring information.“From
now on, it will be punishable in Rwanda to read information not
approved by the authority and such offense [Editor: consultation of this
type of information] will be regarded as complicity” [itegeko rizajya
rinahana umuntu usoma inyandiko zitemewe na Leta kandi iryo kosa
rizafatwa nk'ubufatanyacyaha.], announced Interior Minister Mussa Fazil
Harerimana in pro-government newspaper Kigali Today. The minister added
that “the security services are from the publication of the law allowed
to listen to all phone calls and read emails between private
individuals, [editor: even without the authorization of the judiciary]
and prosecute anyone who violates the law through their conversations. ”
What is surprising is that the law does not specify the type of
offenses that the adoption of this new law is intended to address. On
the question of whether this law will not affect many innocent victims
following the fact that people borrow and lend their computers and
mobile phones, the minister said “it is for each concerned to ensure
their communication devices are in the right hands.”

Hence internet censorship has increased sensibly in Rwanda where it
was found that in recent times, some sites especially those from
opposition parties and most critical of the regime, are inaccessible, or
are the subject of computer repeated attacks from government hackers.
With this new law establishing government’s monitoring of what people
write on the internet and exchange on the phone, Rwanda joins the club
of Internet predators. On top of such list of countries are China and
Iran, which are considered the most advanced in terms of Internet
filtering and monitoring users. This new law is in addition to many
other draconian laws adopted by the Rwandan government in recent years,
and represents a serious threat to freedom of information, where
citizens can not freely express themselves online, knowing that they are
being listened to and their messages read. This law also violates
Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Citizen
of which Rwanda is somehow a signatory and which stipulates that
“everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; which
implies the right not to be intimidated for held opinions, search,
receive and spread, without any limitation in terms of boundaries,
information and ideas, using any media and regardless.”
From around the world, in 2011, Reporters Without Borders has
recorded almost 200 arrests of bloggers and net-citizens; with Rwanda
adopting these laws aimed at monitoring and filtering the Internet, the
list of offenders will certainly increase.

Among accompanying measures to enforce these laws, Rwanda decided to
charge all incoming calls from abroad, this starting from July 1st, 2012. This measure came into force, after all users of mobiles were requested to get them registered
by the police. From now on anyone receiving a call from abroad will
have to pay $0.35 [232.5 Rwf] per minute, explains the online
pro-government outlet igihe.com. However, according to information
received by Jambonews, it appears that such fee for incoming calls from
abroad had been underestimated, and communication providers in Rwanda
find the exact charge could rise up to $0.50 per minute. Before July 1st,
all incoming calls either from abroad, national or local were
completely free. [Ironically, that may be the worth of celebrating 50
years of Rwandan independence]
According to the 2011 UNDP report, 76.8% of Rwandans live on less
than $1.25 a day, which means that from now on it will become more and
more difficult for most people to answer any incoming call from abroad,
knowing that for many citizens with several family members living
outside the country, the only way to stay in contact is the telephone.
According to several observers, charging for incoming calls is a way
for the Kigali regime of strengthening censorship by preventing citizens
to have information from their relatives living abroad. After all the
independent press was muzzled, many Rwandans inside received information
on what is happening in and about their country, through their families
settled outside where information circulates freely. Depriving further
more economically and financially the basket of already poor families
proves the regime’s determination to censor information.
This intensification of censorship in Rwanda is adopted at a time
when the country is affected by a negative image from the international
community for its support of the M23 rebels who are committing
atrocities in Eastern DRC.
Several Rwandan citizens living in Belgium and having families in
Rwanda, particularly from Gisenyi have confirmed to Jambonews that the
new fee on incoming calls from abroad was somehow related to the mutiny
of the M23. According to these people, inhabitants of Gisenyi often
witness trucks transporting injured or dead soldiers killed on the
battle fields.
The decision of the Rwandan authorities to charge inexplicably phone
calls to the outside and control activities taking place on the internet
would be aimed at [among many other sinister objectives for the
population] preventing that information about the repatriation of dead
or injured does not leak to the outside.It appears that the time may be approaching for the
ultimate change that Rwandans of all walks of life and from all ethnic
groups [Tutsis, Hutus, and Twas] have been longing for. For those
desperate for it, the clock is certainly not ticking fast enough. Hassan
El Ghayesh, also in African Awakening: The emerging revolutions, recalls the euphoria he experienced when the Egyptian youth ended 30 years of Hosni Mubarak’s regime.“My phone doesn’t stop ringing for 30 minutes and I don’t stop
calling all those who had been at Tahrir with me for another hour. We
made it! Congratulations, we made it! Most of Egypt is in the street
celebrating. I can’t remember the number of smiles and hugs exchanged. I
do remember, though, how the older generation looked at us with
absolute admiration and gratitude. We did something of which they never
dreamed. The flame of youthful demonstrations hasn’t been ignited since
the early 1970s. And then all of a sudden, we hit so strongly that we
shake the foundation of this regime. I will forever remember the first
day, the first morning I wake up to the smell of freshly baked freedom,
the first shower that rinses away all the corruption and stench of the
former regime.”Such day of relief for Rwandans may not be too far. One
can oppress a people for a certain period of time. Eighteen years of
Kagame’s rule have been exceedingly traumatic for the majority of
Rwandans who have so far managed to survive his atrocities. It can take
some time to remove the foundations of the system of oppression he has
developed. But he cannot oppress all the people everlastingly.

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